Christmas Joy In My Scraproom

The last few weeks have been spent making Christmas cards, favors, wrapping gifts and enjoying this time of the year.  We have many dreary, rainy days, but they are sweater temperature days so I am not complaining!

I have purchased two new tools for my scrap room and both have made card-making so much easier.  The first and most appreciated item is the Tim Holtz version of the Big Shot Switch Plus.  I have looked at it for awhile.  Scrapbooking Made Simple had it on sale for $199, so I broke down and purchased it.  The machine has made card-making much better on my hands.  I do not miss turning the handle on my original Big Shot at all!

Then I was in Hobby Lobby and they had Spellbinders Hot Glimmer Machine for $75.  I had a gift card and decided to purchase it and some of the foils and hot foil plates.  At first, I was not impressed.  I felt like it was a lot of work to hot foil.  After playing with it for more than a few times, I found it to be very useful.  Granted, the hot foil plates are expensive but finding them on sale or by using one plate for 40 cards, it is more than worth the cost.  Not a needed tool by any means, but my Christmas cards turned out to be very pretty with the foil.  Following are two pretty cards I created using the Big Shot Switch Plus for all of the cutting and the Glimmer Hot Foil machine for the area surrounding the word "JOY" on the card to the right.   

Have a great Christmas week!

Anniversary

 A few weeks ago, Jen and Mark celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary.  Today's card is the first one I made for them.  Then I decided I should make the same card using Rich Razzleberry~~the color her bridesmaids wore on their wedding day.  Of course, I did not take a photo of that one, so in your mind imagine this card is Rich Razzleberry, a Stampin' Up color.  I foolishly spent too much time trying to make the strips for the top layer on the scalloped heart to be precise.  Eventually, I told myself to just adhere alternate strips of white embossed cardstock and pattern paper to a piece of cardstock and then die cut that using heart dies from Stampin' Up's retired Be Mine Stitched Heart die set.  Rhinestones, hearts and ribbon completed the card.   It looks perfectly fine!

Have a great week!

Happy Halloween

 This year I purchased My Favorite Things' stamp set, Best Witches.  At first, I made the pretty Halloween cards.  I used a variety of stamp sets for the sentiment and punches for the background.

And then I saw a "Witch way to the boos" card on the internet and decided I could use that card for a few of the people on my card list.  I typed the sentiment using Word and then added the images.  Again, it is the cute little witch from Best Witches and the "boos" are from My Favorite Things' Here's To You die set.

A majority of the cards I made this year were die cut using Stampin' Up's Deckled Edges die set.  Enjoy the day and the ghosts and goblins that appear at your front door today!

Free As A Bird

Today's cards were created using Stampin' Up's Free As A Bird stamp set.  The sentiment on the square card is from the Thoughtful Greetings stamp set by Pretty Pink Posh.  The square card is one I saw on Pinterest a while ago and was by a Stampin' Up Artisan demonstrator.  The images on both cards were colored using alcohol markers.  The birds on the branch image was adhered to popped up squares.  The squares on the square card measure 2-1/4" by 2-1/4" while on the other card the squares measure 1-3/4" by 1-3/4".   Before adhering the squares, I splattered the squares with black ink and added blue backgrounds  Neither of the sentiments were on popped up squares. And finally, little gems were added to each card.

Have a great week!

Fort Myers Beach

 As many of you know, we vacationed in Fort Myers Beach every year for a number of years.  I have been watching the news and seeing the devastation Floridians have suffered from Hurricane Ian.  It is hard to believe that many of the places we frequented are no long there.  That being said, the condo building we stayed in is still in tact.  Of course, not sure about the structural and inside damage.  So today's card is a very simple card wishing better days ahead for those who have lost so much.

I used Stampin' Up's Palms dies and black cardstock for the silhouette of the palm trees and sea grass.  I adhered those to a pattern paper from Honey Bee's Beach Vibes paper packet. Lastly, the sentiment from Stampin' Up's Paradise Palms stamp set was added.  

My heart goes out to the people of Florida.  Have a great day!

Happy Fall!

We have been having beautiful weather here in Tennessee.  I love it when you can feel and smell Fall in the air and soon the colors will change.  So today I an posting an Autumn Blessings card.  It was made using Spellbinder's Parcel & Post dies.  The mailbox was quite easy to make and that did not take much time.  I spent more time sponging the edges!  All the little pieces coming out of the mailbox were a different story.  The sentiment is from a combination of Sunny Studio Stamps sentiments which were stamped in Versamark and embossed using gold embossing powder.  I actually purchased this set and the Christmas add-ons, but changed my mind when I started die cutting all the little pieces! I will save it for an occasion that doesn't call for making at least 50 cards~~lol!  

Have a great day!

Sunflowers

 I recently received new stamp and die sets from My Favorite Things.  Needless to say, I have been creating with the sets.  Today's card were made using Their Die-namics Sunflower Wreath and Farmhouse Foundations sets.  The sentiments on all of these cards were stamped using Thoughtful Greetings.  For the watering can card I created the shelf using a piece of wood patterned paper.  The twig wreath on the Happy Thoughts card is from Stampin' Up.  The jar of water was created by die-cutting the jar and adding a piece of vellum (colored with alcohol markers) behind the die space on the layer.  I added the stems behind that vellum before adhering the white layer to the card base.  I also used Stampin' Up's Deckled Edges dies on two of the cards.  

Making all of the flowers, leaves and stems took some time!  That was when I was thinking that I should have purchased the Stampin' Up Mini Cut & Emboss machine.  So out came the SU catalog.  I was all set to order it when I found out that the magnetic plate was no longer available.   I know I could just tape down the dies, but I have the magnetic plate for the Big Shot and it is something I use all of the time.  So, I am just sticking with the Big Shot I have now.  

Have a great day and weekend!

Spread Your Wings

 I have been playing with  new crafting items, mostly playing with possible Christmas cards and Halloween cards.  But today I am posting a card I made for Sydney.  I cannot believe that the little girl is now starting college.  I am so grateful that we moved back to Chicago when she was a toddler and that we had all these years to spend time together and make memories,  Time does go by quickly.  She is at North Carolina State and had her first day of college yesterday!  She has a full schedule as she is in the Honors Program and I hope she finds time to play a little while doing her best.  

Today's cards were created using My Favorite Things' Spread Your Wings stamp set and dies.  I first saw this card design on their website.  The difference was that the designer used ice cream rather than butterflies.   I made the card twice, once using the smallest butterfly and then again with a middle-sized butterfly.  All butterflies were colored in with alcohol markers.

I am so proud of Sydney and wish her much happiness and success!

National Ice Cream Day

Yesterday was National Ice Cream Day.  Since we did not go out for ice cream, I was making ice cream themed cards.  Today's card was made a few days ago, but it was the cutest one I made these last few days.  Everything thing used on the card is from Sunny Studio Stamps with the exception of the punch used for the sentiment which is from Stampin' Up.  After coloring all of the ice cream treats using alcohol markers, I brushed the white cardstock with pink ink and added the striped paper.  After arranging things the way I wanted, I added some clear sequins.  This card reminds me of the tasty treats we would get at the old ice cream parlors we used to go to when we were kids. 

 Have a great week!

Tea-rrific

Earlier this week I posted a card created with Stampin' Up products with the exception of the tea cup.  Today's card was created using the same tea cup AND the saucer.  Also included are the cute accessories~~the spoon and sugar cubes.  Everything on this card was made using Lawn Fawn products.

I have yet to add a sentiment, but I will add that when I know for what occasion this card is being used.  Have a great day!

I received my Stampin' Up order that included the Hues of Happiness Designer Series Paper.  I had previously ordered the Happiness Abounds stamp set and dies earlier in the month, thinking I really did not need more paper.  Well, I thought wrong.  After receiving the order with the stamp set and punch, I started seeing all of the pretty cards using the dies with the coordinating paper.  When the free shipping day happened, I placed an order for the paper.  

Today's card was made using flowers from the Hues of Happiness paper, Starry Night cardstock and ink, a retired SU set for the sentiment and Deckled Rectangle dies from Stampin' Up.  The vase for the flowers is a tea cup created using the Stitched Tea Cup die from Lawn Fawn.  Before adding the pieces to the white cardstock layer, I splattered some Starry Night ink on it.  When I was finished, the card needed a little something more, so a few rhinestones were added.  Have a great week!

Den Sweet Den

 I usually make Matt a Dad's Day card using dog images.  This year, I decided bears would be good since we are in Tennessee.  The set used is from Lawn Fawn.  With pattern paper, I was able to make it look as though the bears are all on the floor and the wall in their little den is decorated.  Have a great day!

Cute Beach Houses

For my birthday, I received My Favorite Things' Beach Card Kit and I am loving it!  Today I am posting two of the cards I made using the dies and stamps included in the kit and additional coordinating items, too.  For the pink house, I lightly brushed the sky and created the water and beach with dies.  I used a little stamp to create the grains of sand.  The sentiment is part of MFT's Itty Bitty Summer stamp set.  

The background on the card with the lilac house was created using Copic markers.  The sentiment is from MFT's  sentiment set, Life's A Beach.  I have been having much fun die-cutting and creating with these particular stamp sets and dies.   Have a great

week!

Ice Cream Treats

 A week ago today we were expecting a 95 degree day here.  Guess what?  We are expecting the same temperature today!  (That being said, we had beautiful weather days on the days between the 95 degree ones.)  Popsicles and push-ups were always the treat we got on hot, summer days when I was a kid and I gave to my kids.  When I was making today's card I had frozen fruit bars in mind.  I cut the images from a piece of pre-painted watercolor paper.  I actually used the cheapy watercolors you can get at any store.  I just painted areas of the paper using a different color and then die cut the treats and the sticks.   The Pair of Popsicle dies from MFT Stamps are so fun to work with.  You will be seeing lots of ice cream and beach cards from me in the next weeks!  Keep cool and have a great week!

Beach Time!

 I recently received a new stamp set from My Favorite Things.  Beach-themed cards seem to be appropriate for today~~95degrees coming our way!  Since I did not purchase the coordinating Best Beach Friends dies, my Scan N Cut 

worked just fine!  Keep cool and have a great week!

 I have been watching two birdhouses outside of my office window.  One has tree swallow babies and the other has bluebird babies.  The parents to both families of birds are coming and going all day long.  I know they will leave their boxes soon. They have inspired me to make a card using Stampin' Up's  Free As A Bird stamp set.  After stamping and coloring the image, I lightly shaded the area around the image using a very light alcohol marker.  Stampin’ Up’s Deckled Rectangle dies are a nice change from stitched and/or scalloped rectangle dies that I usually use.  The card is on the simple side with all white layers.  Therefore, I added a foam layers under the rectangles for a little dimension.  Just remember to stamp the sentiment before adding the layers.  Have a great week!             

Citrus

This week’s cards are created using dies from Lawn Fawn.  I used a variety of colors of cardstock, ink and stamps.  They are mini slimline cards measuring 6-1/4” x 3-1/4”.  As I finished one, I thought that it was the cutest card.  This happened with all three cards. I will say that the lime card is my favorite.  Part of the sentiment was made on my computer using Word.  It did take a little time to get the spacing correct.  But, it was worth it.  The pattern paper, ink and  cardstock are from Stampin’ Up’s new In Color Collection.  The name of the lime color is Parakeet Party.  I think the name is why I really like it.  I see myself using everything I used to create these cards over and over again.  Have a great week!

Lemons

I really wanted to create a card using Stampin' Up's new In Color, Starry Skies addingyellow accents.  Lemons came to mind.  I used Starry Skies cardstock, ink, pattern paper and adhesive dots. I stamped and colored the lemons and leaves using Sweet N Sassy's stamp set Summer Fruits. When I was finished, there was too much white space.  So out came SU's Timeless Textures set and ink to fill in that space.  Have a great week!

 A couple of weeks ago, Matt took me to Kingsport to attend a Stampin' Up card class.  It was hosted by Robin Broome, a Stampin' Up demonstrator from Kingsport, TN.  It was so nice to get out again and be with ladies who were stamping.  We made pretty cards and today I am posting one of them.  The daisy punches were always a favorite of mine.  Unfortunately, the larger daisy punch is retired.  I was reminded  of the days when I was teaching classes.  I will say though, it was fun to be the student~~all I had to bring was myself!  Robin did the prep work and I just enjoyed.  My demonstrator from back in Illinois, Cherie Lukowski, had sent me a copy of the new annual catalog.  So with a renewed joy of SU products,  I have already placed an order from the new cattie.  It arrives today~~yay!  Have a great week!

Smiles

After Sydney told me about her honor awards, I was going to make her a congrats card.  I an so very proud of her and her accomplishments!  But then today's card was sitting on my island and I thought it was perfect.  She does make me smile and has since she was born~~the sentiment was perfect.  Have a great day!

Hello My Friend

Today's card is so cute!  The image is a digital stamp from Whimsy Stamps, Puppy's New Friend.  The thing about digital stamps is that you can make them the size you prefer.  After pulling up the image in Word, I then placed it where I would want it on a card front.  I typed the sentiment and chose the font I wanted to use.  After printing the Word document, I colored it in with Copic markers and then added butterflies and sequins to fill in the white space.  I still needed a little something, so I punched the corner with a Stampin' Up retired corner punch.  The little bird perfectly matched SU's Poppy Parade cardstock.  I just love this card!  Have a great week!

Here's To You

 My Favorite Things came out with some new stamp sets and dies recently.  I have many cutesy stamps and pretty stamps, but I was in need of some male-type sets.  So their new release had a few items that would make great cards without any flowers or cutesy animals.  My purchase included two die sets and a sentiment set that was related to the dies.  Once I had the items in my hands, I made today's cards.  The Pint Sized and Frosty Beer Mug Die-namics sets needed a little ink and before I knew it, I had two  cards!  The sentiments are from MFT's Here's To You stamp set.  Have a great week!

Easter is a few days away and today I am posting a photo of two cards I created using a digital stamp from Whimsy Stamps.  The Basket of Bunnies digital stamp is the reason for such cute cards.  When using digital stamps, you can make them the size you want.    The blue and green basket of bunnies was printed  on Spectrum Noir white cardstock and then colored.  The darker blue basket of bunnies was printed on the same white cardstock, is a bit bigger than the other, was colored and then cut out on my Scan n Cut.  Both cards images were colored using Copic markers.  The sentiment on the light blue card was one I typed in Word, print and then cut out.  The curved "hoppy Easter" is from LDRS Creative's Hoppy Egg Hunt stamp set.  Both are two cute!  Have a great week!

 I finished all of my Easter cards, but can't post a picture until they are received.  So., I am posting a Mother's Day card that I recently made.  I know that the recipient is not on a computer, so she will not see this.  I purchased the new Lawn Fawn Magic Iris Floral Wreath Add-on dies.  This set is actually to be used with their Magic Iris line of interactive dies.  I am not that into interactive dies, but I really liked the wreath.  I cut the wreath using SU's old Green Galore cardstock.  For the flowers, I used a variety of cardstock colors.  The center of the wreath was stamped using Lawn Fawn's Magic Spring stamp set and colored with Copic Markers.  The background paper is also from Lawn Fawn.  To complete the card, I punched the two corners with my SU Scallop Corner Punch.

Have a great week!

 We had a great weekend!  Jen and Mark visited and took time out to purchase their new house!  They will live about 40 minutes away in a gorgeous house.  Plus, they will be closer to Sydney when she heads off to college in the Fall.  Today's card was made just for them!  The images, with the exception of the branch, were all cut from previously water-colored paper scraps.  The Home Tweet Home die set from My Favorite Things was used to die cut all

of the images.  For the background, I used MFT's cloud stencil and distress ink.  Have a great day!                  

 Last week I posted two cards I created using MFT’s Dog House dies.  Today’s card was related using My Favorite Things’ Home Tweet Home die-namics dies. As cute as the dog house dies, my favorite is this set.  I have made a few cards, most of them I copied off the internet.  I will post others in the future, but everything about today’s card sings out happiness.  I stamped the sentiment with Versamark ink and added white embossing powder.  The only other ink I used was to sponge the edges of the cute little birds.

Have a great week!

Lately, My Favorite Things has been adding some of the cutest dies to their already great collection of dies.  A recent addition to my always growing MFT Stamps die collection is their Dog House set.  Today's cards were created using that set together with their Canine Companion and Up In The Air stamp sets.    The Dog House set includes the fence and grass dies.  For both cards, I used Distress Inks for the backgrounds.  Have a great week!

 Over the weekend I watched a number of videos that were posted as part of the Card Maker Success Summit.  This is the first time I paid to spend a weekend on my computer!  I only watched videos that interested me so I did not watch all weekend.  The presentation by Maartje Kraaijenhagen was very informative.  It showed how to get and use digital stamps.  I have been using individual digital stamps for awhile, but she showed how to create a scene.   After watching her presentation, I purchased a Scene Creators stamp by Rachel Anne Miller named Garden Friends.  The set includes at least 15 images and four sentiments.  You can use a variety of the images to create a scene or you can use the individual images.  Here are two cards I created.

The sentiment on the orange checked card is from Stampin' Up.  The sentiment on the blue card is part of the Garden Friends set.  Have a great day!

Since Valentine's Day has passed and Valentine's have been delivered, I am going to post a couple of ones I made.  The first card was made for Jen and Mark.  The bunnies remind me of Easter, but the heart-shaped tennis racquets screamed "Valentine"!  The front of the card is actually a digital image that I purchased at Whimsystamps.com.  Whimsy Stamps does have a black and white image available, but I went for the colored image.  

The second one includes cute penguins from Sunny Studio Stamps’ Passionate Penguins stamp set.  I also used Lawn Fawn dies and stamps on this one for the envelope and typewritten sentiment.  I really like the pink and black color combination. The plaid paper is from Scrap Book Customs.  Have a great day!

It has been 10 months since my last post.  Since then, we have sold our Elgin home and moved to Rogersville, TN.  We have completed the majority of items that needed doing, both inside and outside.  My scrap room is gorgeous.  Being on the main floor, I have windows~~windows with the prettiest views!  When I am at my island, this is what I look out at.  And in the back of the house, I get to watch the cows.  I have really enjoyed watching the cows.  I laugh when the little calves run around.  It is adorable.  I will say, it is getting harder and harder for me to eat beef!                                                                                                Matt now lives a couple of blocks away.  Sydney was accepted at North Carolina State University which means she will only be 5 hours away.  John, Charlie and I can take little road trips whenever she wants us to visit or she can come here.  She was accepted at the five colleges she applied to, NCSU being her #1 choice. That being said, I am not into football, but two of the Bengals went to NCSU, so I will root for them on Super Bowl Sunday!  Jen and Mark can have the upstairs any time they want to visit TN!  Our decision to move to Tennessee has been a good decision.  Have a great weekend!